Where Will Your Lawsuit Be Filed?

Where Will Your Lawsuit Be Filed?

Perhaps a careless trucker on an Oakland freeway T-boned your SUV while you were driving to drop your kids off at a soccer game. Or maybe a careless San Francisco bus driver slid into your lane, causing you to veer off the road into a utility pole.

In any event, you’re pretty shaken up.

You have a lot on your mind – a lot of concerns regarding your medical situation, your insurance, your vehicle repair dilemmas, and more. In particular, you would like to know whether or not you have recourse to take legal action against the driver or other entity responsible for your San Francisco auto accident. On the other hand, you are worried about the potential time, energy, and focus a potential lawsuit might consume.

For instance, you might be worried about where the lawsuit will be filed.

The short answer is: it depends.

In some cases, the lawsuit will be filed in the jurisdiction where the accident occurred. In other cases, it may be filed in the jurisdiction where the defendant resides. This can be an important distinction depending on your situation.

For instance, say you are an Oakland resident who got into an accident when a driver blew through a red light just miles from your house. It turns out, however, that the driver is from Utah. So, if the jurisdiction is here in Oakland, you will be in hometown territory. If the jurisdiction is in Utah, the situation gets slightly more complicated.

Conversely, a totally different situation could occur. Perhaps you got into a San Francisco auto accident when visiting the Bay Area, and the driver who hit you lives in your home state. In that situation, you might prefer to have the suit filed in the jurisdiction of the defendant for convenience’s sake.

The factors that go into preparing for and executing a logically thought-out, logistically simple case could fill volumes.

Fortunately, you don’t have to learn or understand all of the rules and principles. The team here at the Law Office of Daniel Vega will help you simplify what you need to do and understand best practices. Connect with the team at www.vegalawyer.com, or call to get a free consultation at 415-287-6200.